I added verses to Barbara Boertje’s “How Good It Is,” but I’ve never posted a recording of the full choral arrangement. Until now.
Category: Church
This choral anthem will be coming out on GIA soon. Six years in production, it’s gonna be good… Here’s a recording of a read-through of the choral anthem, sans narration sections.
I finally met Michael Morgan, the author of this text, at the 2012 Calvin Worship Symposium. He’s a friendly guy and a fine organist as well as the author of a mother load of metrical Psalm settings. Here’s a new recording of our collaboration* on Psalm 127, “Rest in the Lord.”
*”Collaboration” in this case means “I took his text and put new music to it and he was nice enough to say he liked it.”
Perhaps I’m too dedicated to setting lesser-known Psalms to music. Maybe I should just stick to Psalm 23. But if you’re going to set Psalm 114 to music, you could do a lot worse than this.
Update 2/8/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.
I’ve blogged about “From the Dust” before, but I’ve had no recording of the choral arrangement until now.
This one didn’t make it into Psalms for All Seasons and has been rejected by one publisher to date.* But I still hold out hope that it will find a good home and be loved for a long time.
*However, the rejection letter was personal and touching: Thank you for submitting your work ‘From the Dust You Shall Raise Us Up’ for our review. We regret that we are unable to accept this for publication at this time. Thank you for allowing us to review your material. We hope that you will give us the privilege of reviewing more of your work in the future.
Update 2/11/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer. com.
This setting of Psalm 107 came about when the Psalm came up in the lectionary on a Sunday that the Guitarchestra was playing. I couldn’t find a workable version of the Psalm, so I took David Diephouse’s metrical text which is found in the Psalter Hymnal and paired it with a tune I composed to be guitar friendly. For such utilitarian beginnings, it’s had a surprisingly good run. Currently it’s sitting pretty in Psalms for All Seasons, 107D. Take a listen to the recording that didn’t make the CD: MP3.
Having just finished the 2012 Calvin Worship Symposium, I’m all ramped up on the Psalms. Then, I’m always all ramped up on the Psalms…
Here’s my setting of Psalm 81. This might not be a “zinger,” but I think it’s a solid song that gets across the text well. Added bonus: it can be sung in both a pop/praise style and as more of a straight hymn, like it is here. If you’re interested in reading an article which includes this hymn, visit Call to Worship.
Update 10/2/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.
More Killer B’s, more revenge. And this time, the theme of the Psalm revenge, too. Psalm 52 is pretty biting stuff, as I discussed before. Naturally, I’m partial to my rendition, but I can also see the charms of Doug Gay and John Bell’s setting that made its way to the pages of Psalms for All Seasons. Theirs uses the tune BACA, which is a sturdy, singable tune, whereas my tune is a bit more difficult. Both our texts struggle to apply the Psalm’s vitriolic language into something that could be used in today’s worship.
$5 to the first church who uses either in a worship service: MP3.
Update 10/6/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.
“Two settings of Psalm 40,” you ask? “Isn’t that a bit excessive?”
Well, perhaps. But the previous one is a festive, praise band version, and this one is a contemplative take on the same Psalm. In a previous post, I recorded the song with my guitar and lots of overdubbing. This one is for choir and piano, and I think I like it better. It feels more settled.
See what you think: MP3.
Update 10/1/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.
Another oldy, but goody. This is one of my earliest congregational songs and was immortalized (well, recorded) on my CD The Greg Scheer Song Book, which, by the way is still available for the unbelievable price of $10.
On that recording the song had more of a folk/praise band vibe. But for this reading session I stripped it back to exactly what was on the page of the voice/piano arrangement, which, by the way you’ll find at my main website on its own page (update: see link above). This simpler version is quite fetching in its own unadorned manner, which, by the way, can be heard on this MP3.